Willner & Heller LLC Increases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Willner & Heller LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 831 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 186.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 63 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $10.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $544.90. The company had a trading volume of 270,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,612. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $389.90 and a 12-month high of $626.67. The company has a market capitalization of $33.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $530.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.83.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $619.36.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.